The present invention relates generally to monitoring rodent behavior and, more particularly, to assessing behavioral response when exposed to a tactile stimulus.
Experiments that manipulate or restrict sleep in rodents and other animals may provide beneficial information related to human sleep disorders. In particular, the experiments can be designed to restrict sleep during different types or stages of sleep. For example, restricting sleep during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep as opposed to non-REM (NREM) sleep may have different effects on physiology and behavior in the period following sleep restriction. Typically, an animal is startled or stimulated in a way that interrupts sleep and then their physiological responses can be monitored. The startle response of an animal may provide useful information for assessing neuropsychiatric disorders and effects of brain injury.
Experimental manipulation of sleep can help with the exploration of how sleep and health may be inter-related and possibly identify new treatments for sleep-related disorders.
Thus, there remains a need to implement selective sleep restriction that is targeted at different stages of sleep with flexible control over the amount, the duration, the timing, and intensity of stimulation that interrupts an animal's sleep. Additionally, measuring a “startle response” of a non-sleeping (or sleeping) animal is desirable as well.